Grimlock, alone
by Vela513
Summary: My entry for TheSarcasticKnight's contest. Starring Grimlock in how he gets to visit the woods in chapter 28 of Small Fry.


**Hi everyone! This is my entry for the contest run by TheSarcasticKnight. Her stuff is seriously awesome and you should totally go read it right now!**

So this is my thoughts on what Grimlock may have been thinking and doing when he got to go play in the woods on the Sheriff's folks' property, when he was taken there at the beginning of chapter 28 of Small Fry by TheSarcasticKnight. I don't think I'll be giving any particular spoilers, so no need for warnings or anything. Ah, right: Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer! I don't own any of these characters, anyone you don't recognize, you will if you read Small Fry, Miki's awesome OC characters belong to her. (I just borrowed them for a little bit...)

From top of Ch 28, after the first section...

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"Alright," said the puny organic man with the gun and badge. "Do you remember where I said the boundaries are?"

Grimlock snorted in his direction but didn't bother to answer, he was already looking towards the wood he'd never seen before, stretching out the cramped cables from his ride in the sparkless vehicle and staying still under that tarp.

A tap to his side returned his attention to Wheeljack though. "You will keep to this area, won't you? We'll come back once the sun sets tonight, so don't go too far away."

Grimlock was first thinking to say something contrary, that he didn't remember agreeing to anything, but then he caught sight of the not too well hidden stress in his Creator's optics. Jazz's words to him from just before he left the house came back to him. Wheeljack was everyone's sole hope of getting home and the first time failed already. It was hard to keep his temper, but he'd try. Wheeljack was trying. Grimlock could try harder!

"Yes, Grimlock remember," he grunted, petulantly and begrudgingly, though. No need to make it too easy, or they'll get soft on him. He pushed his snout against Wheeljack's chest to feel his spark-pulse anyway. He missed home too much not to.

Then he whirled around and bounded into the trees, the feelings starting to overwhelm his composure to behave even for Wheeljack. He felt the organic's eyes on him as he was turning and couldn't help a small spurt of flame, just to yank his chain though. Grimlock does what Grimlock wants, not because anyone told him to! The organic's breathing glitched but since the wood was too wet to catch, nothing happened, and Josh let his lungful of air out in a gusty sigh of relief.

Then he looked at the alien still next to him as the metal dinosaur vanished amongst the trees. "You really think he can be trusted to listen?"

"I'm sure." Wheeljack smiled reassuringly back at the Sheriff, rubbing a hand against the place on his holoform his Creation had whacked him with his snout with. He gestured to the truck so they could get back to base before Peter woke to find him gone.

Unseen, Grimlock watched until the truck backed down the drive and drove out of sight again down the lonely dirt road.

*0*0*0*0*0*

The chill and the damp darkness didn't bother Grimlock none as he took his time finding the coordinates he was told marked the edges of the properties on his GPS. There were a couple of holes in the pathetic fence that seemed worth investigating a little more. Maybe later. For now, he was going to follow his nose on some of these interesting scents that tracked dizzily all over the interior of the property.

Thank Primus for small mercies, there wasn't a hint of Decepticon anywhere here! Not that he didn't usually enjoy that scent, it meant fighting was imminent, after all. But trapped for over 2 Earth months surrounded by the stink of 'Cons and not allowed to fight as much as he wanted? A more inventive style of torture, Grimlock wasn't sure there was one out there. Besides being so far and for so long away from the rest of his Dinobots.

He amused himself a moment wondering about the trouble they'd gotten into with prickly Red Alert and the rest of the Autobots without him there to tell them what to do or where to go, but that lost its fun quickly. Frustration and anger surged to the top, much more comfortable than the loneliness and sadness which he was not so familiar with except for these same last 2 months.

Grimlock turned and roared, spitting flames. When he held still and listened he didn't hear the answering calls of his brothers. But before he got too wrapped up in his head about that, he did hear something out of place in the woods. Like a metal on metal shriek. Curiosity pricked and happy to stop having to think so hard, he made his way towards it, swaying his head side to side to better triangulate where in front of him the sound was coming from.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*

It was a barn, big, rickety and old, but still standing, in the middle of a heavily overgrown clearing. He paced all the way around it, it wasn't so large as to hold all the Dinobots at once, but it could hide Grimlock and Swoop if he'd been here. Grimlock concentrated and transformed into his little used mech form. He dug the more useful digits of his mech-style hands into the door jam to tug it open. Easy enough for his superior strength, he still noticed how the bottom of the door caught against the organic weeds growing in the threshold and how even with the age and unlived in quality of the place compared to most human dwellings he'd come across, there were still hints of not-so-recent human inhabitation around.

The scent of old fast food wrappers inside, for instance. And an old torn up car seat on the floor near what looked like some human high-grade cans and playing cards.

Grimlock snorted at the smell of dusty cobwebs, transformed back into his preferred form and left again.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Sometime later that afternoon, he chanced past the still open barn door again. This time, however, the lumbering sound of an occupant accompanied the shriek of the hinges. The rattle of cans scattering on the floor mixed with the rustle of waxed paper burger wrappers and the snuffling snorts of some large organic foe.

Grimlock stuck his snout into the doorway and snorted noisily to alert the trespasser. To his joy the creature rose to his challenge and issued a pathetic attempt at intimidation of its own.

The black bear, biggest in the state at 800 pounds, was not used to challenge. He'd always won against every challenger mostly based on virtue of his being bigger than everyone right away. This thing though, this human and car smelling creature blocking the way, was something else altogether. Abandoning the usual tactics, he rushed at the door and the metal monster blocking the way he came in to the outside.

Grimlock saw the massive bear barreling towards him and ducked out of the way. If he'd been at his true size this would be no problem, but as it was, it was the most excitement in what felt like years! Before he could really get into the fight though, the creature was already crashing its way from the arena! Grimlock unleashed a gout of white hot flame on a bush in pre-emptive victory, burning it to a crisp, howling a warning and a challenge to every denizen on the property. Then, the chase was on.

It was fast, he'd give it that! If he'd been with his Dinobots at his proper size, it'd be no trouble, but at least this size could give him a challenge he hadn't had before! He could barely keep up to the organic beast! All too soon, he'd run the great black bear to the edge of the property. As it vanished off into the forbidden beyond, Grimlock howled another challenging roar to its fleeing and scorched backside. Snorting in excitement, he turned his attention to the holes in the perimeter fence as he'd been taught by Red Alert that one time long ago. He could fix this up so the human pets wouldn't find that bear in their home again. He rumbled happily. Who wanted to go to a stupid play anyway? This was much more fun!

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